![\"scalearith.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/scalearith.jpg\" "\\"scalearith.jpg\\"")
The best way to show the full gamut\u00a0or range of colors that can be mixed from three primaries is with a triangle and, just like the color scales, there are two variations of color triangles; arithmetric and geometric.<\/p>\nThe best way to show the full gamut\u00a0or range of colors that can be mixed from three primaries is with a triangle and, just like the color scales, there are two variations of color triangles; arithmetric and geometric.<\/p>\n
Mathematical vs Visual Balance<\/strong><\/p>\n Arithmetric\u00a0Triangles put the 1\/2:1\/2 mixes\u00a0(in the sample they are\u00a0labeled 4\/4)\u00a0in the middle position because they want to balance the numbers on both sides.\u00a0But since\u00a0primaries\u00a0are never\u00a0balanced in value\u00a0or tinting strength this leads to triangles leaning toward one of the corners as the strongest of the darker\u00a0colors takes over.<\/p>\n Notice that in the Premo sample above Cobalt is the bully color.<\/p>\n Value Variations<\/strong><\/p>\n If you have been doing color scales you have probably noticed\u00a0how only a small part of blue mixed with yellow changes the yellow to a yellow green. Small color shifts\u00a0show up more in lighter colors than in darker colors.<\/p>\n Darker colors will always pull the mix in their direction. Since yellow is a much higher value than the other primaries there are usually more steps on the yellow side of a 1\/2:1\/2 mix.<\/p>\n Tinting Strength Variations<\/strong><\/p>\n You can’t always tell which color is stronger by just looking at it. Its not always the darkest color that is the stongest. In Premo, Ultramarine is darker but not as strong as Cobalt.\u00a0 Cobalt has a much higher tinting strength.<\/p>\n Even when colors are the same value, one of the colors will usually be stronger than the other and pull the mix in\u00a0that direction. In the Premo sample shown, Cobalt has more tinting strength than Fuchsia. There\u00a0are more steps included on the Fuschia side of the 1\/2:1\/2 mix in order to create visual balance.<\/p>\n Trichromatic Mixing<\/strong><\/p>\n Both triangles are samples of trichromatic mixing.\u00a0 The traditional theory goes something like this; if you pick the right red, yellow and blue, you can mix all the colors of the rainbow, and they will all be harmonious because they come from the same primaries.<\/p>\n Smash, smash and smash.<\/p>\n We will get into all the reasons why trichromatic\u00a0theory doesn’t work later. For now, I want to emphasize why it is helpful to practice mixing color this way.<\/p>\n Discovering the Beauty of Earth Colors<\/strong><\/p>\n If you have ever taken one of my workshops then you know that I love tertiary colors. In modern color books the term “tertiary” is usually used to describe the colors between primaries and secondaries. In classic color books, tertiaries are colors that come from the mixing of secondaries – which means that they are colors with all three primaries in some proportion. I prefer the old definition.<\/p>\n The presence of a third primary in a mix will alway muddy the color. Its these tertiary, muddy, or earth colors that I love. And its these tertiary, muddy, or earth colors that show up in the middle of the triangles.<\/p>\n Which leads me to the main reason\u00a0I like to\u00a0play with trichromatic mixing. Its a great way to learn how to make gorgeous earth colors.<\/p>\n ___________________________<\/p>\n This\u00a0is a preview. A teaser. I am working on the next few Tutorials with instructions for making both Arithmetric and\u00a0Geometric Triangles but they are taking me longer than I thought.\u00a0Some of you will probably play around with making them right away. Cool! Let me know how they come out.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The best way to show the full gamut\u00a0or range of colors that can be mixed from three primaries is with a triangle and, just like the color scales, there are two variations of color triangles; arithmetric and geometric. Mathematical vs Visual Balance Arithmetric\u00a0Triangles put the 1\/2:1\/2 mixes\u00a0(in the sample they are\u00a0labeled 4\/4)\u00a0in the middle position […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":7022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polymer-arts","category-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"scaletrianglefuchsiacobalt_edited-3.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/maggiemaggio.com\/color\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/scaletrianglefuchsiacobalt_edited-3.jpg\" "\\"scaletrianglefuchsiacobalt_edited-3.jpg\\"")
On the other hand, Geometric Triangles allow you to put the 1\/2:1\/2 mixes in positions that\u00a0are more\u00a0visually balanced. You can compensate for both\u00a0value\u00a0and tinting strength variations in the primaries.\u00a0This is what I mean when I say “Half and Half is NOT Halfway.”<\/p>\n